Canada's first test tube baby to be a dad

Sarah Rankin, helpfully offers her belly to hubby Colin Rankin of London to get an ear on their son, in utero. Colin Rankin is one of Canada's first test-tube babies and now they're having their first albeit, the old fashioned way. Mike Hensen/QMI Agency

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Jonathan Sher, QMI Agency

Feb 3, 2014

, Last Updated: 11:17 PM ET

LONDON, Ont. - Canada's first test tube baby is about to become a father, with no beaker in sight.

Colin Rankin became the apple of the media's eye even before he emerged from a nine-month journey that began in a petri dish in the lab of an English specialist and ended in a delivery room in Oakville, Ont., on March 25, 1982.

Beating his twin brother Gregory to their debut, Rankin was a media celebratory, the world's seventh test tube baby. Stories followed as the twins turned 10 and 25.

"I had my 15 minutes of fame when I was born," Rankin said Monday.

Now, the elder Rankin and his wife Sarah are expecting a son any day now.

The pregnancy was the product of chemistry, too -- only, the old-fashioned kind.

Rankin was drawn to London to be close to Sarah. The two had met at teacher's college, but Rankin worked in Winnipeg before love drew him back to Ontario.